Tourism Prosperous in Knox and Warren Counties

Tourism boomed once again this year in the State of Illinois, and in Knox and Warren counties, those numbers are no exception.A report published by the state’s tourism office says in 2014 the state hosted more than 109.4 Million visitors –a 3.5 percent increase from 2013 that works out financially to about $36.3 Billion in travel expenditures.

According to Bill Morris, who is the Executive Director of the Galesburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, tourism is big on a local level.  Morris says visitors help to generate nearly $74 Million in revenue for Knox County. In Warren, that number is just over $22 Million.

Morris tells WGIL, that specifically in Galesburg, he attributes high visitor statistics to marketing.

“Galesburg is a very historic community and you know, we do put out a concerted effort,” says Morris. “Our office is supported by hotel/motel taxes as well as grant money from the state of Illinois and we were aggressive at marketing our community. So we market our community to the Chicago area, we market it to the Quad Cities, and the Peoria area, we market it around the nation as well. I think that we have a good message, we have a beautiful community, and we do our best to attract people.”

Morris says the overall result is job creation in the thousands. In the words of a previous director, he adds that “Galesburg loves company.”

(WTAX Springfield News Reporter Will Stevenson contributed to this story.)